Trivia: In the opening title sequence we see a garbage truck going through the Golden Gate Bridge toll booth. We would find out later that these trucks were used to transport the pods. The truck is traveling southbound from Marin County into San Francisco which is appropriate, (intentional or not) since the book Body Snatcher was set in Mill Valley, in Marin County, about 10 miles from the bridge.
Trivia: Sixteen years after this film was made, Donald Sutherland starred in "The Puppet Masters," a film with a similar premise as this one: a film about alien parasites that take over human bodies and turn them into emotionless duplicates.
Trivia: The ranting man whom Matthew almost hits with his car and eventually gets killed by another car is Kevin McCarthy, who played the main character in the original.
Trivia: The wild man that throws himself on the hood of the car is Kevin McCarthy, who was the lead man in the original 50's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."
Answer: On the DVD commentary, Director Phillip Kaufman explained that the leather on Nimoy's hand was the actor's idea and simply showed how kooky the character was. Fits the character well really.
Gavin Jackson